Ancient History of Drag
That is so old... but they were the real OG's. The history coming from all over the world shares gender impersonation from aspects such as survival, power, entertainment, and cultural influences. Not until the Renaissance time period was it moral for women to be seen in public roles. The church found it to be immoral. These examples of ancient gender impersonation are the start of our research. Each picture is linked to more information from other sources if you want to read more about these people or characters.
Queen Hatshepsut
(ca 1508– 1458 B.C.)
First Known Gender Impersonation thus far.
Queen Hatshepsut was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She dressed as a man to preserve the image of strength and dominance so she could rule over Egypt and keep the priests in line with her authority.
Queen Hatshepsut become one of the most powerful and influential pharaohs of Egypt. She restored many of the great temples and improved the economy of Egypt.
Achilles dresses as a woman to survive.
Achilles is from the Iliad by Homer written ca 762BC
Achilles is sent to live in the court of King Skyros, where he lives as a woman. He then falls in love with one of the princesses before leaving for Troy.
Many paintings have been inspired by the story. Some of these paintings date back almost 600 years. Most are depicting Achilles being discovered among the king's daughters.
The Bacchae- Greece
Written by Euripides and premiered ca 405BC
Picture of Alan Cumming acting in Bacchae.
A Greek tragedy was written 2400 years ago, this story is one of the greatest tragedies written and gives true meaning to a classic. While this story does not include gender impersonation as a character, it was a rule that only men were able to be actors. All characters, male and female were played by men. Its debut is a great example of men playing woman on stage.
Emperor Elagabalus
Roman Emperor between 218-222 AD
According to Roman historian Cassius Dio, Elagabalus loved nothing more than dressing up as a woman. He was known for being bisexual, married 5 times. Once was to a male athlete called Aurelius Zoticus.
His reign was short, and he was not a good leader at all. But what would a 14 year be good at anyway?
Mulan- Chinese gender impersonation
Ballard of Mulan ca 386-620AD
While everyone might know the Disney story of a drag king going and fighting in a war, this is old folklore dating back almost 1700 years. There is a lot of talk about what the actual name was, but leave it to Disney to bring drag to be big screen and help inspire children to be equal no matter what your gender.
The Bacchae
National Theatre of Scotland Trailor 2018
Alan Cumming performing in the National Theatre of Scotland's version of The Bacchae.